vietnamdraft.csv

vietnamdraft_wide.csv

Description

In December 1969, the U.S. Selective Service System conducted a lottery to a determine draft order for eligible men in the upcoming year. The 366 days of the year (including February 29) were written on small pieces of paper. Each was placed in a plastic capsule, then the capsules were hand-mixed in a shoebox and dumped in a glass jar. Capsules were pulled out one at a time. The first number chosen was 258 (September 14). Anyone born on that day in 1944 through 1950 was assigned lottery number 1. The first 195 birthdates drawn were later called to serve in the order they were drawn. Some people asserted that the numbers were not randomly distributed through the year, in particular when you compared the first half and second half of the year.

Representative Alexander Pirnie (R-NY) drawing the first draft number. Image is public domain.

Representative Alexander Pirnie (R-NY) drawing the first draft number. Image is public domain.

Variables

## Observations: 1,464
## Variables: 5
## $ month       <fct> Jan, Jan, Jan, Jan, Jan, Jan, Jan, Jan, Jan, Jan, Ja…
## $ day         <int> 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 1…
## $ draftyear   <int> 1970, 1970, 1970, 1970, 1970, 1970, 1970, 1970, 1970…
## $ halfyear    <fct> First, First, First, First, First, First, First, Fir…
## $ draftnumber <fct> 305, 159, 251, 215, 101, 224, 306, 199, 194, 325, 32…
##   month day draftyear halfyear draftnumber
## 1   Jan   1      1970    First         305
## 2   Jan   2      1970    First         159
## 3   Jan   3      1970    First         251
## 4   Jan   4      1970    First         215
## 5   Jan   5      1970    First         101
## 6   Jan   6      1970    First         224

References

Selective Service: The Vietnam Lotteries

Live from Washington, It’s Lottery Night 1969!

Vietnam Draft Lottery Data